Uighur Muslim community in London

Leonie Cooper: What action are you taking to support the Uighur Muslim community in London, and will you join me in my letter to the Foreign Secretary to urge him to impose Magnitsky-style sanctions upon Chinese officials involved in human rights violations?

The Mayor: What we have seen and continue to witness in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China is truly horrific. The scenes of systematic abuse and violence against the Uighurs by the Chinese government – including arbitrary mass detention, forced labour, and reports of forced sterilisation - are an absolutely barbaric abuse of human rights. These crimes are heinous and I have, and will continue to, condemn them in the strongest possible terms.
The world has a duty to protect this minority Muslim community. We need to bring international pressure on the Chinese Government to stop what is happening.
I have spent my life fighting for fundamental human rights, and whilst City Hall does not have any foreign policy making power, I completely support the UK Government in challenging the Chinese Government on this matter, both directly and through the United Nations, as well as the UK’s independent tribunal investigating these human rights abuses. The Government would also be right to consider Magnitsky-style sanctions upon any individuals that are involved in carrying out these human rights abuses.